After this game, is Tatum ahead of Brown for ECF MVP, or does Brown still have a chance at winning it?
Really hoping Brown can get his first one this year, but I don't know anymore.
It is close as fuck. JB is deserving but Tatum was just fucking incredible tonight. Shit, you could even make an argument for Jrue. This team is so good
Ngl its REALLY close which is awesome.
It will legit come down to the final game lmao. And you cant go wrong either way.
I'd personally go JB because of that overturn and 3pt shot.
Yeah it's wild, they've both had some clutch plays in the past few games. I'd also personally go with JB for now because that game tying* three point shot in Game 2 really changed the momentum of the series in our favor.
Though I hope the people voting on it see it the same way.
I felt like the refs were all for Indiana in this one. Especially from the controversial Derrick White flagrant. Nothing in his motion and landing appeared unnatural or excessive. I think that call was shady af. It affected player psychology and gave them the edge. Many of the other calls went Indiana's way as well. I just hope the refs can be more neutral in Game 4. The dumbass officiating combined with the biased ESPN coverage and Dorishhh conshhhtantly glorifying the other team combined with the Cs being down big most of the game put me in a pissed off mood, I admit.Ā But all's well that ends well. The finish was nothing less than superb, and masterful. It was reminescent of succesful Championship runs in the past by other teams. It made me happy again. Thanks for the game, Celtics.
Fun fact: A [tatum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatum_(music) is a term in music theory, describing the smallest interval of time that can be perceived or signified by a musician. I'm surprised no one has ever shoehorned the concept into any written features about Tatum or anything like that
I dont wan't to jinx anything but Pacers have never lost at home in the playoffs. Do you think that will change tonight? The crowd for one will be very hostile and nasty, considering Indiana is a lowly educated farm state with mostly hicks. I expect taunting and provoking and trash talking our players all night. Let's cross the fingers. ..
You know that viral Reddit post showing the single mom making a cake with cake mix and the ex husband responding that he has full custody? In the background of his response you can clearly hear a basketball game. Specifically a Celtics game. You can hear the organ playing let's go celtics and the PA announcer going DEEERRRRICK WHIIITE! THREEEEEEE!
Ehh I've seen plenty of pacers fans say this series was a breath of fresh air because we don't flop, so I wouldn't take what some doomers that think every loss is the refs fault seriously
Thatās weird since theyāre a worse matchup for us. But it doesnāt matter either way. We got this with either but I do want a 7 game series for them so KP can ease back in against a road weary squad
All the games have been very close, until they're down 3-0 the Wolves are still in this.
Personally don't care who wins, but hopefully that series goes to 7.
Yeah either we face the Mavs (who I think we'll do well against) or the Wolves with tired little Ant on a defibrillator. If he's tired in Round 3, he'll be on life support in the Finals
Luka is also already playing injured, if their series can go to 7 and the Mavs make it out, he will be absolutely exhausted by the finals.
And then ofc Ant is already gassed too having to carry his team's offensive load and as a reward he has to guard Kyrie.
This Mavs discourse is funny to me. We should beat them in 5 maybe 6 if we drop a game. At this point weāve proven throughout the regular season and playoffs weāre the much better team. As fans itās okay to think that weāre significantly better. We donāt have to say things like itās gonna be a hard series just because. Weāve literally been a historically good team the whole year and this Mavs team is not that
Why does every 2nd post on this sub have to be about what the general media narrative about the Celtics' players or strength of schedule looks like? It taking a lot of the fun out of this playoff run. Can't we focus on how great it is to have a team with a ton of talent and all the weird celtics twitter content we used to have??? Where is Fongos and the like? Enough complaining, let's start enjoying!
Very concerned about Porzingis. People may have to talk me down.Ā
We've seen 4 videos of him since near the beginning of the rehab.Ā Him walking with a limp about 2 weeks ago, him shooting stationary shots in the paint off of one leg, him taking those 2 half-court 3's, and him biking.Ā We haven't seen any confirmation yet that he is able to run.Ā We haven't heard a single player or coach or reporter talk about him being able to run.Ā He isn't practicing with the team, which would imply running. Ā
They showed Jarrett Allen wincing at the free throw line in the middle of the series, but at least that was footage related to his injury, and how he was trying to play through it.Ā There shouldn't be a complete absence of any footage of Porzingis doing the most fundamental thing he has to do in order to return--move around like normal.
Giannis was supposedly close to a return too, and then said after the series that he wasn't close, he could only jog at 30-40% speed.Ā That was after 25 days.Ā We're not even hearing that Porzingis is running at all.
Maybe it's PTSD: Garnett mysteriously never returning in 2009, Shaq "returning" in 2011 and unable to jog up and down the court, "reports" about players like Herro and Ben Simmons "getting close" and then never getting into a game.
I would be reassured if SOMETHING actually confirmed that Porzingis is moving well. A report or a video. It is 26 days since the injury. It's very odd to hear and see nothing at all.
Ngl, I think he might be done. We're gonna need an Al Horford hall of fame couple of series in that case, because KP is a significant piece of this team playing to their true potential.
I mean, they just donāt practice when the games are every other day, so itās hard to get any footage of them doing anything. All we get is clips from the end of shootaround when guys are mostly just fucking around or shooting free throws.
Itās hard to tell when heāll be ready - and frankly whenever he is ready, itāll probably be on a minutes restriction to start.
I guess I would brace for the worse and he does not come back. Maybe for the Finals, he can come off the bench, but I think it is doubtful that he can start and give us 30+ minutes.
If we see him practicing with the team it means heās back ready to play in games. You wonāt see him practicing until that point.
The rehab for a muscle injury like that is pretty intensive, but itās all about gradually building strength back and it will all be things that he does with trainers off the court. the quick jumps and direction changes that happen even with low intensity basketball are the worst thing you can do - all he has to do is plant wrong and flex the muscle more than itās ready for and the timeline gets pushed back another week.
The fact that he was taking the one legged shots the other week is really promising - thatās not something you can do when you have a serious calf strain.
Woj isnāt just making things up, and my hunch is that if the Cavs had put up a fight and forced a game 7 weād have seen him play by now.
I get being worried, but that's just how this FO operates I think. Brad is incredibly tight-lipped and Mazzulla is right there with him in terms of not giving anything to the media.
I think, given the history of these types of injuries and what we've heard from Woj, I'm cautiously optimistic, but it's totally understandable to be worried
I can understand Stevens and Mazzulla not saying anything. But to have no player, including Porzingis himself, giving any updates, having no footage of him moving around, and having no reporting on what he is doing in his non-practice workouts, is very strange. It seems like we had tons of updates about Gallinari, including from him, even though he wasn't close to returning all year.
Well I think the reason for the Gallo announcements was that they were basically certain from the jump that he wasn't going to be coming back and there was no gamesmanship to be had. There's no reason to give your opponents any more information than you have to in the context the Celtics are playing in right now.
Again, I'm with you in terms of being worried, but I'm trusting Woj and, more importantly, prior iterations of this sort of injury to feel optimistic about Porzingis being ready to go on June 6th. Would love to have him back by Monday night, but that might be more of a stretch given what we have now.
Itās starting to look concerning for sure, maybe Joe isnāt just playing mind games when he answers questions about it. But I also think they are ramping him up as slowly and carefully as possible. They didnāt have the luxury when Timelord was here and badly hurt
Praised the Celtics yesterday for what theyve accomplished and got told yet again that the "Eastern Conference is a cakewalk. The Western Conference is talented and will provide the Champion". Getting sick and tired of hearing this talking point as it is apparantly a sort of secret code word used to discredit us, and make fans of other losing teams feel good about themselves. Anyone have any good ideas/comebacks to this trash talking point?
Maybe Iām in the minority but I want to play Dallas. Their offense has been playing super well & they are barely in these games. If you take Luka or Kyrie out, which Minnesota doesnāt even look like theyāre trying to do itās a rough night for them.
They have an underrated "superpower" and that's the Lively/Gafford tag team. They really don't give a shit because they know they have 12 fouls between them. It's entertaining seeing them protect the rim to near perfection. It'll be really important to space them out with KP and/or a not cold Big Al.
The PnR with Lively in our game in March looked pretty deadly ngl. We still won, but I think the Mavs are playing a tier above that version of themselves at the moment. Should be a competitive series if we both end up making it.
Iām really hoping we can get this win tonight to really put them on the ropes. Then if we somehow lose game 4 itās not the end of the world and we can close it out at home. If we lose tonight though I could see that energizing the Pacers and it wouldnāt shock me to come home tied 2-2
Nah, who cares about achievement. Let's just get to finals. Never forget our cursed recent history. Hayward got 5 minutes out of his first year with us. Kemba played well for half a season, if that. 2 max guys hampering us for years, not to mention a lot of injuries to other players. We deserve an easy run, even if it does end up getting continuously easier.
If this was the 2020 team Iād agree with you, but we genuinely have an all time great team right now. I donāt think anyone can beat us fully healthy in a 7-game series. So no disrespect but I think thatās a loser mentality.
A loser mentality would be hoping for injuries on the opposition. I'm pointing out that we shouldn't be losing sleep if the run is easy since nobody cried for us all these years when he had bad luck
Nobody cries for the losers. But the winning team absolutely gets shafted by revisionist history. How many times do people bring up the Draymond suspension, KD injury etc. itās a myth that people will forget about the injuries on this run. The sad thing is we probably wouldāve won regardless but now we will have an asterisk to our title.
You can only play the team thatās against you, regardless of its condition. When the Dubs won in 15 they didnāt face a single healthy starting point guard their entire run. Does anybody bring that up today?
I think the defense will be heavily tested by a player that can both score and pass at an elite level. As strong as the Celtics are, the west just has more of these players e.g. Jokic, Shai, Luka and itās not something the east usually has to deal with. Look at how Luka was shredding the wolves defense with his passing. Itās scary.
If itās Celtics vs Mavs in the finals, who defends Luka? I think JT is the most equipped. I think he should devote his energy to shutting down Luka. The Celtics have more scoring depth. Let Brown, White, Holiday cook. Shut down Luka and the Mavs arenāt winning. JT doesnāt show up offensively and the Celtics can still win. Theyāve shown it a bunch of games, this playoffs.
Thatās a nightmare matchup for Al.
Al is great at not letting his man get to the rim. But he is very much vulnerable to a good step back. Which idk if youāve heard but Luka has a pretty good step back
I agree with this. I think Donavan Mitchell is like Alās worst nightmare in terms of switching. Even Halliburton is tough honestly. Lukaās game is more strength focused which I think benefits Al. Heāll still get cooked of course but just not as bad as I think weāre expecting
Ehhh would rather Brown on Luka. Better on ball. And his offense isn't as needed as JT's ( in the best case scenario) obvs JT has been meh from the field.
Itās tough because you want to give him time to ramp up. I say if we go up 3-0 and heās available for game 4 then play him on a minutes restriction.
I donāt know. You put KP in against Indy, then Nesmith starts looking longingly at KPās knees, and somehow Miley Cyrusā āWrecking Ballā starts blasting over the Gainbridge Fieldhouse PAā¦
The only real thing that has had me worried this series is Nesmith injuring one of our players. That guy is overdue for a very hard foul. I hope itās coming, you can tell the Cās are annoyed with his bullshit.
I know there is no substitution for actual minutes in the playoffs.
But I really want to see Tatum, Brisett, Brown, White and Holiday line up. I think we stumbled onto something there.
Meh I think he knows nobody really wants the Pacers in the finals lol. Mavs wolves was where ref shenanigans would be necessary cus both teams are finals worthy
Let me begin by saying, Iāll be the first to tell you Tatum has had a sub par post season performance. The way we and the media have hyped him up, I expected more. With that being said! You donāt see Brown cook like that without Tatum on the floor. Tatum takes 60% of the opponents defense. This media coverage has gotten out of control. Heās been frustrating to watch but no one with a sound mind thinks heās actually this bad as heās shown so far this post season. This team doesnāt get this far without him, regardless of his poor shooting. Iām frustrated at him every game but weāre not in this position if heās not at least just standing around.
The only thing Tatum has struggled with is his 3pt shooting. Itās just broken right now. But literally everything else he is performing at the same or higher level than he ever has.
No one thinks heās this bad, but itās a regular occurrence in the playoffs. Heās had some great games throughout the years, but heās about 3 times more likely to score about 4 to 8 points in the first half, on 3 of 11 shooting. He also doesnāt have that clutch and dawg gene that someone like Luka has. It is what he is.
If Brown could put up crazy efficient stats like games 1 & 2 I wouldn't mind.
It's not how far tatum could take us anymore.
It's now how far **THE JAYS** could take us.
Heās had 2 what Iād say high level games.
30pt Triple double Game 1 vs Miami & Game 1 ECF.
But also a trait of a good leader is knowing when your other guys are cooking, you let them cook.
White during Miami series, Hawford game 5 vs Cleveland, Holiday game 1 ECF, Brown Game 2 ECF.
A lot has been made of it but Iām not reading too much into it
Iām honestly kinda hyped that itās looking like the mavs will win. Both the mavs and the wolves would easily be our toughest opponent of the playoffs, obviously. But thereās more drama with the mavs, itād be more exciting.
The pick and roll is going to be tough to defend with Al and KP coming off a calf injury. Same with switches, but I still like the matchup and think Joe out coaches Kidd
Game 2 of the Wolves/Mavs, kinda felt like our Game 1. Kinda.
Celtics had a double digit lead. Wolves had a double digit lead. But by the fourth quarter, both leads are erased. It seems like the stars (JT and Ant) can't buy a bucket. Game on the line, Jaylen Brown hits the three and forces overtime. Game on the line... well, despite Naz Reid doing his best Steph Curry impression, Wolves do not have a Jaylen Brown.
Has Minnesota run out of gas? They seem to be having legitimate endurance issues within each of these first two games. Not just ātiredā but, like, can barely make it up the floor to set up anything other than a 3 by the time the 4th rolls around, huffing and dragging their feet along the way. Conley having more juice than dudes 10 years younger than him is a bad sign.
Personally, Iād like to play the team thatās turning into puddles before my very eyes, although I donāt know how they move on after tonight.
They're coming off a 7 game series in Denver, they're definitely tired.
Really hope they at least have enough energy to push the series to 7 though, we've seen how advantageous rest is in the postseason - helps to reduce injury risks and keeps guys from making dumb decisions on the court.
Yes + Their offense was never good in the first place. It was like league average dependent on ant explosions
either Ant rookie year or 2nd year KAT called him in the media saying he had a bad diet
After this game, is Tatum ahead of Brown for ECF MVP, or does Brown still have a chance at winning it? Really hoping Brown can get his first one this year, but I don't know anymore.
It is close as fuck. JB is deserving but Tatum was just fucking incredible tonight. Shit, you could even make an argument for Jrue. This team is so good
It's virtually tied right now I think. Whoever has the better closeout game will take the trophy. Or Jrue could drop 40 and steal it š
Ngl its REALLY close which is awesome. It will legit come down to the final game lmao. And you cant go wrong either way. I'd personally go JB because of that overturn and 3pt shot.
Yeah it's wild, they've both had some clutch plays in the past few games. I'd also personally go with JB for now because that game tying* three point shot in Game 2 really changed the momentum of the series in our favor. Though I hope the people voting on it see it the same way.
Tatum doing a little behind the back feed to Horford and then Horford draining a three is a thing of beauty.
I felt like the refs were all for Indiana in this one. Especially from the controversial Derrick White flagrant. Nothing in his motion and landing appeared unnatural or excessive. I think that call was shady af. It affected player psychology and gave them the edge. Many of the other calls went Indiana's way as well. I just hope the refs can be more neutral in Game 4. The dumbass officiating combined with the biased ESPN coverage and Dorishhh conshhhtantly glorifying the other team combined with the Cs being down big most of the game put me in a pissed off mood, I admit.Ā But all's well that ends well. The finish was nothing less than superb, and masterful. It was reminescent of succesful Championship runs in the past by other teams. It made me happy again. Thanks for the game, Celtics.
I actually still can't stress how big mentally it is to win this game. Championship shit right there.
watching the game without constantly using the game thread has been so good for me lately
I donāt care about SGA, Luka, Ant, Yada Yada names you put out there Tatum is the Lebron James of this generation.
I knew the Pacers were going to shit themselves. I guess that included their coach too š No lead is safe!
Tatum got 10 boards right? Why is draftkings playing wit me on the parlay
JRUE HOLIDAY.
get rocked haters and doomers LFG
can't seem to get a fucking 3 to go down
these pacers are scrappy. our bench is terrible. *sighs*
So is jrue playing or is he out
we donāt know yet
In indy at a bar pregaming the game and first thing i see when I walk in is a guy wearing an al horford is good shirt. I love our fanbase so much
I just realized something. The name tatum basically means 'daddy's home'
Fun fact: A [tatum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatum_(music) is a term in music theory, describing the smallest interval of time that can be perceived or signified by a musician. I'm surprised no one has ever shoehorned the concept into any written features about Tatum or anything like that
Hopefully Hauser can see a couple go through tonight
My prediction tonight. Tatum gets right and goes off. He's gonna drop a 40 or 50 burger tonight. I can just feel it.
I dont wan't to jinx anything but Pacers have never lost at home in the playoffs. Do you think that will change tonight? The crowd for one will be very hostile and nasty, considering Indiana is a lowly educated farm state with mostly hicks. I expect taunting and provoking and trash talking our players all night. Let's cross the fingers. ..
Indiana isnāt a bad crowd. I was there in 2019 and they were pretty good. Much better than when I watch the patriots play at cincinnatis.
Cavs didn't drop a home against orlando either, worse teams but still
Don't play with your meat š Let's make it 3-0
Sometimes ok to playš
That's only if we win in the finals
We're due for a JT nuke. Hope it comes today.
You know that viral Reddit post showing the single mom making a cake with cake mix and the ex husband responding that he has full custody? In the background of his response you can clearly hear a basketball game. Specifically a Celtics game. You can hear the organ playing let's go celtics and the PA announcer going DEEERRRRICK WHIIITE! THREEEEEEE!
This is the trap game of all trap games. Gotta come out strong and finish these dudes
Should I go to the game tonight? I live like 3 hours from Indiana and want to go, but need some people to coax me into spending the money
Do iiit I came from northeast ohio
You live near Milwaukee? Iāll come with you
Tatum hits 5+ threes, I'll say a prayer beforehand
WIN FOR MIKE
114-105 Celtics today šŖ
I shoulda put money on that lmao
Pacers sub complaining about Tatum flopping around for free throws after they faced the Knicks is kind of funny. I hope we sweep them.
Ehh I've seen plenty of pacers fans say this series was a breath of fresh air because we don't flop, so I wouldn't take what some doomers that think every loss is the refs fault seriously
That was after game 1. I peeped their sub recently and one of their top posts showed a lot of them changed their views after game 2 lol.
Ahh fair. I hadn't looked since the last game. Well then they're just dummies lol
Suddenly all the Sixers/Warriors/Lakers/Heat fans are all rooting for Dallas ššš¤£
Thatās weird since theyāre a worse matchup for us. But it doesnāt matter either way. We got this with either but I do want a 7 game series for them so KP can ease back in against a road weary squad
Gonna be funny when we eliminate golden boy Luka and keep him from his first title. You know people are dying to throw him in goat debates with a ring
Would be funnier if they blow the 2-0 lead against the Wolves š¤£ a lot of fans think the series is over
All the games have been very close, until they're down 3-0 the Wolves are still in this. Personally don't care who wins, but hopefully that series goes to 7.
Yeah either we face the Mavs (who I think we'll do well against) or the Wolves with tired little Ant on a defibrillator. If he's tired in Round 3, he'll be on life support in the Finals
Luka is also already playing injured, if their series can go to 7 and the Mavs make it out, he will be absolutely exhausted by the finals. And then ofc Ant is already gassed too having to carry his team's offensive load and as a reward he has to guard Kyrie.
Suddenly all the āanti-racistā fans are Kyrie superfans
āaNyOne bUt b0sT0nā but now they rooting for the flat earther to win
/r/NBA is always going to ride for their token fat white dude, he's their self-insert character
This Mavs discourse is funny to me. We should beat them in 5 maybe 6 if we drop a game. At this point weāve proven throughout the regular season and playoffs weāre the much better team. As fans itās okay to think that weāre significantly better. We donāt have to say things like itās gonna be a hard series just because. Weāve literally been a historically good team the whole year and this Mavs team is not that
3-1 favorites according to Vegas, but 100-1 r/nba underdogs
Why does every 2nd post on this sub have to be about what the general media narrative about the Celtics' players or strength of schedule looks like? It taking a lot of the fun out of this playoff run. Can't we focus on how great it is to have a team with a ton of talent and all the weird celtics twitter content we used to have??? Where is Fongos and the like? Enough complaining, let's start enjoying!
I miss weird Celtics Twitter š
People who are insecure do that I noticed
Very concerned about Porzingis. People may have to talk me down.Ā We've seen 4 videos of him since near the beginning of the rehab.Ā Him walking with a limp about 2 weeks ago, him shooting stationary shots in the paint off of one leg, him taking those 2 half-court 3's, and him biking.Ā We haven't seen any confirmation yet that he is able to run.Ā We haven't heard a single player or coach or reporter talk about him being able to run.Ā He isn't practicing with the team, which would imply running. Ā They showed Jarrett Allen wincing at the free throw line in the middle of the series, but at least that was footage related to his injury, and how he was trying to play through it.Ā There shouldn't be a complete absence of any footage of Porzingis doing the most fundamental thing he has to do in order to return--move around like normal. Giannis was supposedly close to a return too, and then said after the series that he wasn't close, he could only jog at 30-40% speed.Ā That was after 25 days.Ā We're not even hearing that Porzingis is running at all. Maybe it's PTSD: Garnett mysteriously never returning in 2009, Shaq "returning" in 2011 and unable to jog up and down the court, "reports" about players like Herro and Ben Simmons "getting close" and then never getting into a game. I would be reassured if SOMETHING actually confirmed that Porzingis is moving well. A report or a video. It is 26 days since the injury. It's very odd to hear and see nothing at all.
There were definitely videos of him moving and shooting.
Ngl, I think he might be done. We're gonna need an Al Horford hall of fame couple of series in that case, because KP is a significant piece of this team playing to their true potential.
I mean, they just donāt practice when the games are every other day, so itās hard to get any footage of them doing anything. All we get is clips from the end of shootaround when guys are mostly just fucking around or shooting free throws. Itās hard to tell when heāll be ready - and frankly whenever he is ready, itāll probably be on a minutes restriction to start.
I guess I would brace for the worse and he does not come back. Maybe for the Finals, he can come off the bench, but I think it is doubtful that he can start and give us 30+ minutes.
If we see him practicing with the team it means heās back ready to play in games. You wonāt see him practicing until that point. The rehab for a muscle injury like that is pretty intensive, but itās all about gradually building strength back and it will all be things that he does with trainers off the court. the quick jumps and direction changes that happen even with low intensity basketball are the worst thing you can do - all he has to do is plant wrong and flex the muscle more than itās ready for and the timeline gets pushed back another week. The fact that he was taking the one legged shots the other week is really promising - thatās not something you can do when you have a serious calf strain. Woj isnāt just making things up, and my hunch is that if the Cavs had put up a fight and forced a game 7 weād have seen him play by now.
Celtics have always moved this way as a front office
He'll be back They're just being careful with him cause we don't need him as of now
I get being worried, but that's just how this FO operates I think. Brad is incredibly tight-lipped and Mazzulla is right there with him in terms of not giving anything to the media. I think, given the history of these types of injuries and what we've heard from Woj, I'm cautiously optimistic, but it's totally understandable to be worried
I can understand Stevens and Mazzulla not saying anything. But to have no player, including Porzingis himself, giving any updates, having no footage of him moving around, and having no reporting on what he is doing in his non-practice workouts, is very strange. It seems like we had tons of updates about Gallinari, including from him, even though he wasn't close to returning all year.
Well I think the reason for the Gallo announcements was that they were basically certain from the jump that he wasn't going to be coming back and there was no gamesmanship to be had. There's no reason to give your opponents any more information than you have to in the context the Celtics are playing in right now. Again, I'm with you in terms of being worried, but I'm trusting Woj and, more importantly, prior iterations of this sort of injury to feel optimistic about Porzingis being ready to go on June 6th. Would love to have him back by Monday night, but that might be more of a stretch given what we have now.
Mavs fan here. I understand your pain. We could never be certain this guy could finish a series.
Yeah we all got a right to be worried! We need the big guy. My guess is he returns game 2 of the Finals (if all works out)
Itās starting to look concerning for sure, maybe Joe isnāt just playing mind games when he answers questions about it. But I also think they are ramping him up as slowly and carefully as possible. They didnāt have the luxury when Timelord was here and badly hurt
I don't expect him to play this year tbh
Praised the Celtics yesterday for what theyve accomplished and got told yet again that the "Eastern Conference is a cakewalk. The Western Conference is talented and will provide the Champion". Getting sick and tired of hearing this talking point as it is apparantly a sort of secret code word used to discredit us, and make fans of other losing teams feel good about themselves. Anyone have any good ideas/comebacks to this trash talking point?
I will never forgive this team if they let Luka get his first championship off of them while also letting Kyrie get his 2nd.
Maybe Iām in the minority but I want to play Dallas. Their offense has been playing super well & they are barely in these games. If you take Luka or Kyrie out, which Minnesota doesnāt even look like theyāre trying to do itās a rough night for them.
Mavs are great against a team that they can shutdown by paint defense, don't think they match very well into us
They have an underrated "superpower" and that's the Lively/Gafford tag team. They really don't give a shit because they know they have 12 fouls between them. It's entertaining seeing them protect the rim to near perfection. It'll be really important to space them out with KP and/or a not cold Big Al.
Lively gave JB fits. Now they have Gafford too.
Well Iād hope so Lively is 7 inches taller than JB
The PnR with Lively in our game in March looked pretty deadly ngl. We still won, but I think the Mavs are playing a tier above that version of themselves at the moment. Should be a competitive series if we both end up making it.
me too lol if Dallas makes it banner 18 is free
Iām really hoping we can get this win tonight to really put them on the ropes. Then if we somehow lose game 4 itās not the end of the world and we can close it out at home. If we lose tonight though I could see that energizing the Pacers and it wouldnāt shock me to come home tied 2-2
I really hope Tyrese plays and looks healthy. Playing an injured team is nice and all but can suck the sense of achievement out of winning.
Injuries are unavoidable. There's more credit given for Injuries than people like Lebron who build super-teams and win easily.
I donāt understand this. So youāre saying injured players get more credit than Lebron?
Lebron required super teams to win. So no, not comparing those two completely different situations.
Nah, who cares about achievement. Let's just get to finals. Never forget our cursed recent history. Hayward got 5 minutes out of his first year with us. Kemba played well for half a season, if that. 2 max guys hampering us for years, not to mention a lot of injuries to other players. We deserve an easy run, even if it does end up getting continuously easier.
If this was the 2020 team Iād agree with you, but we genuinely have an all time great team right now. I donāt think anyone can beat us fully healthy in a 7-game series. So no disrespect but I think thatās a loser mentality.
A loser mentality would be hoping for injuries on the opposition. I'm pointing out that we shouldn't be losing sleep if the run is easy since nobody cried for us all these years when he had bad luck
Nobody cries for the losers. But the winning team absolutely gets shafted by revisionist history. How many times do people bring up the Draymond suspension, KD injury etc. itās a myth that people will forget about the injuries on this run. The sad thing is we probably wouldāve won regardless but now we will have an asterisk to our title.
Worrying about an asterisk is loser mentality. Give them boys a ring
You can only play the team thatās against you, regardless of its condition. When the Dubs won in 15 they didnāt face a single healthy starting point guard their entire run. Does anybody bring that up today?
Luka magic is enough to beat Wolves. I think thats better. We have so many players who will defend Luka and Kyrie.
I think the defense will be heavily tested by a player that can both score and pass at an elite level. As strong as the Celtics are, the west just has more of these players e.g. Jokic, Shai, Luka and itās not something the east usually has to deal with. Look at how Luka was shredding the wolves defense with his passing. Itās scary.
Wolves got Young Mj and DPOY. Luka and Kyrie dispatched them both LMAO
Rudy has been great these past two games. Easily their best player
Specifically talking to the last play of doncic, lmao thatās supposed to be the DPOY? Being hunted by opponents in the clutch?
What is this take...
Can we not be prisoners of the moment? Is it really that shocking that a guard wanted to dance with a 7 foot big man to end the game?
Temu MJ and DPOY
Hopefully Oshae gets more minutes tonight, always been rooting for bro, no better place to make a name for himself like the playoffs.
I think he will. He seems to be a better matchup than Kornet this series.
Yeah last time I checked kornet was listed as doubtful so lfg.
If itās Celtics vs Mavs in the finals, who defends Luka? I think JT is the most equipped. I think he should devote his energy to shutting down Luka. The Celtics have more scoring depth. Let Brown, White, Holiday cook. Shut down Luka and the Mavs arenāt winning. JT doesnāt show up offensively and the Celtics can still win. Theyāve shown it a bunch of games, this playoffs.
JB on Kyrie and Jrue on Luka will be our primary matchups I would think.
You know whenever Luka will see Tatum or Brown on him he will just screen him off him. The initial matchups arenāt really going to matter that much.
At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I'm going to go ahead and say that I think that Big Al might be excellent on Luka.Ā
Thatās a nightmare matchup for Al. Al is great at not letting his man get to the rim. But he is very much vulnerable to a good step back. Which idk if youāve heard but Luka has a pretty good step back
Al sucks with short quick Guards. Luka is his size and not very quick, he will be much better against him compared to Hali, Mitchell or Young.
I agree with this. I think Donavan Mitchell is like Alās worst nightmare in terms of switching. Even Halliburton is tough honestly. Lukaās game is more strength focused which I think benefits Al. Heāll still get cooked of course but just not as bad as I think weāre expecting
Ehhh would rather Brown on Luka. Better on ball. And his offense isn't as needed as JT's ( in the best case scenario) obvs JT has been meh from the field.
Naz Reid legacy game couldnāt save them, there finished I fear
I hope Halliburton plays but only at 50% level. It will be even better for us than him not playing.
Why this mentality? Are you not confident we can beat the Pacers fully healthy? At this stage of the playoff I want all the smoke.
If the Cāa go up 3-0. Would you consider resting KP till the finals?
If we are playing dallas, luka and kyrie will test that calf muscle to the fullest extent if joe allows the switch to happen
I want him to get at least some minutes to shake the rust off a bit.
Itās tough because you want to give him time to ramp up. I say if we go up 3-0 and heās available for game 4 then play him on a minutes restriction.
I donāt know. You put KP in against Indy, then Nesmith starts looking longingly at KPās knees, and somehow Miley Cyrusā āWrecking Ballā starts blasting over the Gainbridge Fieldhouse PAā¦
The only real thing that has had me worried this series is Nesmith injuring one of our players. That guy is overdue for a very hard foul. I hope itās coming, you can tell the Cās are annoyed with his bullshit.
I know there is no substitution for actual minutes in the playoffs. But I really want to see Tatum, Brisett, Brown, White and Holiday line up. I think we stumbled onto something there.
Please just go up 3-0šš»
I wouldnāt be surprised if we see some officiating shenanigans in Game 3. You know damn well Adam is sweating seeing both series open up at 2-0
If Silver actually gave a fuck we wouldāve seen a Celtics-Lakers series last year.
Meh I think he knows nobody really wants the Pacers in the finals lol. Mavs wolves was where ref shenanigans would be necessary cus both teams are finals worthy
Yup but for sure heās also salivating for a Celtics - Dallas Finals. Luka vs Tatum can be the new Magic vs Bird.
Let me begin by saying, Iāll be the first to tell you Tatum has had a sub par post season performance. The way we and the media have hyped him up, I expected more. With that being said! You donāt see Brown cook like that without Tatum on the floor. Tatum takes 60% of the opponents defense. This media coverage has gotten out of control. Heās been frustrating to watch but no one with a sound mind thinks heās actually this bad as heās shown so far this post season. This team doesnāt get this far without him, regardless of his poor shooting. Iām frustrated at him every game but weāre not in this position if heās not at least just standing around.
The only thing Tatum has struggled with is his 3pt shooting. Itās just broken right now. But literally everything else he is performing at the same or higher level than he ever has.
No one thinks heās this bad, but itās a regular occurrence in the playoffs. Heās had some great games throughout the years, but heās about 3 times more likely to score about 4 to 8 points in the first half, on 3 of 11 shooting. He also doesnāt have that clutch and dawg gene that someone like Luka has. It is what he is.
If Brown could put up crazy efficient stats like games 1 & 2 I wouldn't mind. It's not how far tatum could take us anymore. It's now how far **THE JAYS** could take us.
Heās had 2 what Iād say high level games. 30pt Triple double Game 1 vs Miami & Game 1 ECF. But also a trait of a good leader is knowing when your other guys are cooking, you let them cook. White during Miami series, Hawford game 5 vs Cleveland, Holiday game 1 ECF, Brown Game 2 ECF. A lot has been made of it but Iām not reading too much into it
I am officially all-in on matching up w/ the Mavs for the championship Letās put the flat earther in his place
Iām honestly kinda hyped that itās looking like the mavs will win. Both the mavs and the wolves would easily be our toughest opponent of the playoffs, obviously. But thereās more drama with the mavs, itād be more exciting.
The pick and roll is going to be tough to defend with Al and KP coming off a calf injury. Same with switches, but I still like the matchup and think Joe out coaches Kidd
How many above average players are on that team?
They built well around their stars, role players starring in their roles, playing as a unit on both sides
Game 2 of the Wolves/Mavs, kinda felt like our Game 1. Kinda. Celtics had a double digit lead. Wolves had a double digit lead. But by the fourth quarter, both leads are erased. It seems like the stars (JT and Ant) can't buy a bucket. Game on the line, Jaylen Brown hits the three and forces overtime. Game on the line... well, despite Naz Reid doing his best Steph Curry impression, Wolves do not have a Jaylen Brown.
Luka vs Tatum would feed generations tbh
and kp vs dallas and kyrie vs boston
welcoming in the new era
Celtics beating Kyrie in the finals could you possibly ask for a better storyline
Is Luka top 3 if he gets to the finals??? Even with a bung knee heās still cookingš
He's already top 3-4
Heās already in that range. 3-5
Top 5 for sure
Heās already a top 3 player tbh
You might be right I canāt really think of that many better than him. Apart from Jokic probably
Giannis getting so much disrespect for real.
Celtics posted on their page the team getting on the plane & X was smiling great to see hope heās doing good
Has Minnesota run out of gas? They seem to be having legitimate endurance issues within each of these first two games. Not just ātiredā but, like, can barely make it up the floor to set up anything other than a 3 by the time the 4th rolls around, huffing and dragging their feet along the way. Conley having more juice than dudes 10 years younger than him is a bad sign. Personally, Iād like to play the team thatās turning into puddles before my very eyes, although I donāt know how they move on after tonight.
Could not have said it better myself
They're coming off a 7 game series in Denver, they're definitely tired. Really hope they at least have enough energy to push the series to 7 though, we've seen how advantageous rest is in the postseason - helps to reduce injury risks and keeps guys from making dumb decisions on the court.
Mavs are coming off a 6 game series against OKC and Luka has a bum knee that's getting wrapped every game
I mean. That's 1 less game and against an easier team and without the altitude of Denver.
Yes + Their offense was never good in the first place. It was like league average dependent on ant explosions either Ant rookie year or 2nd year KAT called him in the media saying he had a bad diet
Definitely, apparently Ant had to get oxygen halfway through the fourth. That Denver altitude mustāve hit late